Monthly Archives: April 2019

Post 8

Beatrice chastizes Dante for crying over disappearance of Virgil by: Flaxman, John

Source: The World of Dante

Beatrice has finally arrived, in the most grandiose manner, appearing from “within a cloud of flowers that from the hands of angels” (Canto 30, 28-29). Dante trembles with emotions of love as he finally gets to see her after his long journey. As Dante turns to Virgil for comfort, he finds that his guide has disappeared. Overcome with sadness, Dante begins to cry. Seeing this, Beatrice tells our traveler to stop crying, because here is where mankind is happy. Although I can see where Beatrice is coming from, I do not see any wrong in Dante expressing very natural emotions of losing a well trusted friend who had guided him through literal hell. In the image depicted above, we can see Dante on his knees, with one hand on his face wiping his tears as Beatrice stands above him. We see figures in the background, who all seem to be frolicking and having the time of their lives. They seem very happy, like Beatrice tells Dante to be too. Their emotions are drastically different from how Dante feels due to the disappearance of Virgil. Beatrice’s posture is very straight poised, depicting her as “regal and haughty” (Canto 30, line 70) like described in the canto. She does not bend over to comfort Dante. Instead, she stands looking at him from above. Her treatment towards Dante was slightly surprising because in Inferno she seemed very gentle and empathetic, leaving heaven to find a guide just for him. She later tells angels that Dante has strayed from his path in life after her death, and in Canto 31, we learn that he had been lustful and tempted by others. Beatrice is disappointed in Dante, and her attitude towards him is understandable.

Post 8 (due April 15)

I am hoping you are working on your post. The deadline is tomorrow, April 15. Your post will be about the canto we are reading for this week (Purgatorio 28,29, 30, 31). If you wrote a post about the readings last week, your post will be about your visit at the Met Museum.

Please add a short note with an idea for your final paper. See you in class.

The Harrowing of Hell

Collectio Musicorum & The American Theatre of Actors 

present 

THE HARROWING of HELL  

A Play from the 13th Century 

Translated into Modern English and 

Directed by Jeff Dailey

Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm 

April 10 – April 21 2019   

The American Theatre of Actors 

314 West 54th Street in NYC 

 

http://www.theharrowingofhell.com/

 

New York, NY (March 29,  2019 ) Sometime in the 13th century, an anonymous author wrote a short play detailing the events of the Harrowing of Hell, when, after dying, Jesus went to Hell to rescue all the prophets imprisoned there.  This play, one of the first ever written in English, was so popular it survives in multiple sources, but has never been performed in the United States.  Newly translated into modern English, you may see this play in April at the American Theatre of Actors.  In it, Jesus, vanquishes Satan, and then goes on to release Adam, Eve, and others from their hellish imprisonment.

Also on the program is another medieval play, “The Fall of the Angels,” dating from the 14th century, which shows how Satan came to be cast into Hell in the first place, along with a performance of “The Soliloquy of Satan,” by the 20th century American poet Elliott Blaine Henderson.  The actors will also perform music from the Middle Ages.

 

Appropriate for the Easter season, these short plays show how their authors attempted to deal with the presence of evil in a comical way. This production will take you back centuries and enable you to see drama never before performed in New York.

The text of “The Harrowing of Hell” has been translated and adapted by Dr. Jeff S. Dailey, who is also the stage director.

 

Performances will be held Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2pm. April 10th through April 21st, 2019. Tickets are $20 and may be reserved by calling 212 581 3044 or may be purchased at tdf.org [tdf.org].

 

The production is directed by Jeff S. Dailey, noted as a specialist in the works of Sir Walter Scott and as a stage director specializing in verse drama.  His recent productions include dramatic versions of Anglo-Saxon poems and the works of the pre-Shakespearean playwright John Bale.  The cast features  Benjamin Beruh, Jeremy Carter, Connor Chaney, Ben Hayslett, Justin Little, Monty Renfrow, Logan Roberts, Sabrina Fara Tosti and Christopher Yoo.

 

 

The Vice of Pride

Vices are the main focus of purgatory rather than sin. Pride specifically is the first vice theme in purgatory. Nature is also a common theme that we see throughout the comedy. We see that nature plays a major role in purgatory since nature can be described as a reflection of God and His beauty. Thus, purgatory includes imagery of Mary, skies, stars and other majestic scenery/symbolism. This relates to pride as well because in purgatory, one must cleanse themselves of this vice by showing humility and meekness, the antonym of vice.

Compared to the Inferno, where pride also known as ego, is what caused Lucifer, one of the most high angels to fall to the lowest position, is significant. In purgatory however, the greater the pride in life the greater the weight of stone to be carried. This is a burden that is caused from their own vice to be lifted when the opposite occurs. When one thinks less of themselves than more which is an interesting contrast.

Pride and Position

Dante watches as the prideful purge themselves, Title: Proud Penitents (Oderisi da Gubbio), Illustration by Gustave Doré, Source: Danteworlds (UTexas) (Galleries of Purgatory (Terrace of Pride))

As Dante and Virgil continue to voyage through purgatory they find themselves on the first terrace in canto 10. Each of the seven terraces symbolize the seven capital vices, of which the travelers encounter the prideful souls. Dante, as the author, purposefully creates parallels between cantos of the same number in purgatory and inferno. As an example, upon entrance in both the sixth circle of heresy and the terrace of pride, not a single soul is visible in sight. The reason for this could possibly be that the arrogance with which the souls carry themselves push them to believe that any visitors that come their way aren’t worthy of seeing who they are immediately nor are the visitors worthy of knowing who they are. While this may not be true for all the souls of the sixth circle, the behavior of the souls that Dante does get to meet indicate otherwise. As for purgatory, the reason for this has to do with the contrapasso of the punishments of the prideful. Each of the souls are forced to look at the ground because of the tremendously heavy stones weighing them down on their spines. This is an opposition to the overly-confident attitudes that the souls have in their living days where their attitudes kept their heads up high during every encounter. The punishment allows them to understand the negative traits they possess and how one cannot spend eternity as someone who treats others as though they are below them. The simultaneous pounding of their chests reflects the process of the purging of the souls into better versions of who they used to be giving them an element of sincerity that lacks in the souls of inferno.

Meanwhile, the sinners of canto 10 in inferno have mainly committed heresy but one character, known as Farinata, shows evidence of pride and arrogance. Dante narrates, “I had already fixed my eyes in his; and he was/ rising up with his breast and forehead as if he had/ Hell in great disdain,” (34-37, 173, Inferno). The focus on his breast and forehead symbolize the importance of courage. Farinata keeps his head held high, which forces Dante to look up to him while they’re conversing as he stands at the base of Farinata’s tomb. This, consequently, creates a hierarchy between the two characters putting Farinata above Dante. As Farinata rises from his tomb in a prideful and arrogant manner, he maintains a calm and collected demeanor despite the circumstances he finds himself in. His pride is further emphasized when Dante proclaims, “…as if he had Hell in great disdain. (34-35, 157, Inferno). The superior tone, in sharp contrast to the souls of purgatory, implies an attitude of superiority that lacks in the atmosphere, itself, of purgatory. Farinata acts as though he is above the afflictions of Hell and cannot be bothered to concern himself with the sufferings that surround him. Furthermore, his bearing implies a concern with social status which is emphasized when he asks Dante if he comes from the opposing political faction of Guelphs. Such attitudes aren’t present either at Dante’s first encounter with the prideful, despite their vices, because if they behave in such a manner, which counters the will of God and his reasoning for placing the souls in either inferno, purgatory or paradise, then the purging souls would not be where they are now in the first place.

The social statuses, however, that Farinata preoccupies himself with are understandable because, the deeper one delves into inferno, the rougher, harsher and more terrifying the souls’ punishments become. Perhaps, he is attempting to prove to Dante that although he is in the sixth circle of Hell, he is worth much more than what God deems him to be, who consequently places him in this petrifying circle. When it comes to purgatory, the higher one climbs the levels of purgatory, the closer they come to the entrance of paradise and all the goodness and light it contains. This signifies that even though the prideful souls are in the first terrace and as a result, aren’t as close to paradise as the rest of the souls, their purging is considered worth the journey. Their social statuses, unlike the souls of inferno, are temporary and are subject to transforming into a brighter and more peaceful eternity as opposed to the devastating and never ending torments of inferno.

Justified Punishment

Dante at this point, now fully understands why these sins are punished and how essential it is for the punishment to match the severity of their sins. What I want to find out is why is Lucifer isn’t active throughout Inferno? It would make sense for the king of Hell to apply his might against the dammed throughout Dante and Virgil’s pilgrimage. To help us understand the very nature around Hell and Lucifer let us examine Canto 33 . Here in this Canto, Dante and Virgil are in the ninth circle and they come across a sinner named Count Ugonilo who chews the neck of his killer and betrayer, Archbishop Ruggieri. Both of these men are betrayers, but what’s important to note is how Ugonilo acts for his sins: “That sinner raised his mouth from his fierce meal, / then used the head that he had ripped apart / in back; he wiped his lips upon it’s hair.” (Alighieri 1-3).  Ugonilo attacks the man who betrayed with anger and disgust. There is hate in those bites. It’s evident here that wrath has made Ugonilo go insane with rage.

Examining Canto 34, Virgil and Dante are in the City of Dis. They meet the king of Hell who stands in the middle showing no emotions(I will discuss about Lucifer nature later). Lucifer has three heads to which each mouth contains a sinner: Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ, Brutus and Cassius both of whom betrayed Julius Caesar.  All three men are chewed and shredded, never dying: “Within each mouth he used it like a grinder/ with gnashing teeth he tore to bits a sinner, / so that he bought much pain to three at once.(Alighieri 55-57).  According to this, these sinners are forever in a state of perpetual agony. Notice that these sinners are expressing emotion unlike Lucifer himself. With these examples in mind, I believe Dante meant to show the readers that although the sinners are touched by evil. They still remain human. Pure evil has no traces of humanity, which would make sense since Lucifer is evil incarnate.

There is an interesting note about Purgatory that further explains the presence of sins around humans and perhaps Dante’s intentions about the sinner’s circumstances. In Canto 1 of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil meet Cato, a Roman Politician who is famous for his defiance of Julius Caesar.  What fascinating about this sinner Cato is the fact he killed himself as a form of freedom from Julius Caesar as explain by Virgil, “You know it who, in Utica, found death/ for freedom was not bitter, when you left/ the garb that will be bright on the great day.”(Alighieri 73-75). Since we’ve come to know that suicide is a crime against God, it’s problematic to see Cato’s role in this realm. To understand why Cato is in Purgatory instead of Hell we must remember that Dante based his morality on Aristotle’s schema. According to Aristotle, death by suicide is a crime against one’s society, but in Cato’s case his society was conquer by Julius Caesar. Rather than being in part of the new society by the conqueror, he decided to free himself by suicide. This is why there is a special case for Cato Presence, for his actions is proof his incorruptible nature.

 

Cantos to read for next week

Dear All,

I have updated the selection. Please come to class prepared. There will be a reading questionnaire, since not all of you are writing a post about the readings. Many will be answering the questions about your visit to the Met. You will keep those posts password protected, because I don’t want you to be influenced in your answers. As a proof of your visit please keep your sticker. You can also take a selfie with one of the paintings and post it!

Canto 27, Dante’s Use of Logic

https://hubpages.com/literature/Dantes-Inferno-Canto-XXVII

In Canto 27 Dante comes across Guido da Montefeltro in the ninth bolgia where we can find the sowers of discord. After reading this Canto it made me realize just how moral and logical Dante (the poet) is. Dante portrays his high moral regard for God in a very logical and simple way. Although, Dante does not say who he is talking to in this Canto, the reader can conclude that it is Guido da Montefeltro speaking by the confessing of his sins and the attribution of his home to the story. Guido only does this because he is confident that Dante won’t be able to make it out of hell to tell this story. Guido recounts his story about his encounter with the high priest, ” then he said again: let not your heart fear: henceforth i absolve you, if you teach me how to raze Palestrina to the ground. Heaven i can lock and unlock, as you know; for that reason the keys are two which my predecessor did not prize.” Here, Dante exemplifies his standpoint on morality and his usefulness of logic by deliberately  putting this passage in Inferno. In the non-contemporary times that Dante lived in–thinking outside of the natural order of things must have been very audacious and uncommon. But, here he takes on an Aristotlian tone by applying Aristotle’s principle of contradiction. One cannot be two things at once. One cannot be saved or absolved from their sins if one does not repent. The high priest tells Guido he can save him, but the only person that can save Guido is God along with Guido’s repentance.

The Nature of Weeping

     Unlike the previous sinners, in the 9th circle of hell, the sinners are punished with ice. The coldness pervades their bodies making them unable to express their emotions. In its very nature, the cold strips the sinners of an essential characteristic that makes them human – their ability to cry. The act of crying itself can be seen as a form of self-reflection and a way to unburden the emotional turmoil that exists inside. By taking away the sinners ability to cry, the cold renders them less human than they originally were. The nature of the punishment corresponds with the nature of their crime; the cold weather parallels their cold-hearted crime which essentially degraded them from a human to an animal (less than human). In canto 33, the sinner’s inability to cry parallels their transformation from civilized beings to animalistic primitives devoid of all virtue.

     Count Ugolino’s inability to cry mirrors the loss of his humanity as he succumbs to the temptations of cannibalism. When Count Ugolino is imprisoned with his sons in a tower and it’s door is being nailed shut, Count Ugolino says “I was not weeping, I so turned to stone within: they were weeping; and my Anselmuccio said ‘you have such a look father! What is it?’ (Canto 33, lines 48-50). Count Ugolino marks his transformation from a father to “stone” when he stops crying. The “stone” represents his loss of humanity because he begins to perceive his sons as food. Even though he initially denies it, his son observes that he has “such a look”. The sons notice that their father is looking at them differently, the “look” is synonymous with the way a predator eyes its prey before it consumed them for its means of survival. The ability to cry represents the idea that the individual is still human and tethered to a moral compass. Count Ugolino can’t cry because he is selfish and deceptive by nature. He betrays Archbishop Ruggieri and he’s imprisoned for his treason. When he is imprisoned with his sons, his selfish nature prioritizes his needs over his sons even though his fatherly affections attempts to hold off the temptation to consume them for as long as possible. However, his selfish nature and starvation prevails over his fatherly affection as he succumbs to cannibalism. Hence, he cannot cry because his intentions are already corrupted and he is spiraling towards cannibalism.On the contrary, his sons are “weeping” because they’re innocent. They have the ability to cry because their humanity and moral compass remains intact. In fact, they say “Father, it will be much less pain for us if you eat of us:” (Canto 33, line 60). They offer themselves up to the father because their moral integrity and affection for their father exceeds their own materialistic capacity for starvation. Their intentions and inherently their souls are much more purer than their father which permits them to cry.

     Count Ugolino and Brother Alberigo define crying as the ultimate desire of the sinners in the 9th circle of hell. Both Count Ugolino and Alberigo’s crimes consume their insides and prevent them from feeling anything but the nature and remorse of their crimes.For example, Count Ugolino says “You wish me to renew desperate grief that already possesses my heart merely thinking,” (Canto 33, lines 3-4). Count Ugolino uses the adjective “desperate” to characterize his grief because it reflects his desperate need to express that grief in some physical form. He wants to “speak and weep together” (Canto 33, line 8), the association of voicing his grief and crying further reiterates the idea that their grief can only be lessened through crying. Alberigo claims “And that you may more willingly shave the glassy tears from my eyes, know that, as soon as the soul betrays as I did, its body is taken over by a demon” (Canto 33, lines 126-129). While Alberigo doesn’t explicitly refer to the heart, he loses autonomy because his body is no longer his own; his corrupted soul is weighing his body down to hell. Alberigo uses the word “betray” because he betrays his brother when he kills them over a presumed dinner thus, his soul betrays him by sending him to hell before he has even died.

     Alberigo describes his soul as possessed by a “demon” that is holding his body body hostage till the end of time. Since the moment he committed murder and the demon took over his body, all of his humanity left him. He asks Dante and Virgil to “lift from my [his] eyes the hard veils, so that I may give vent a little to the anguish that gathers in my heart, before my tears freeze up again.” (Canto 33, lines 111-113). The “hard veil” has a dual meaning, the “hard veil” refers to Alberigo’s tears frozen over his face, but the “hard veil” can also mean that the nature of his crime is so diresome that it prevents him from ever being empathetic and humane again. Alberigo could’ve asked Dante and Virgil for anything but all he asks for is the opportunity to cry one more time. Both characters claim that their soul or heart is heavy inside of them because it’s carrying the guilt of their inhumane crimes that they can no longer express through humane means.

     Dante personifies “weeping” as a humane quality that is acting inhumanely to the sinners. For example, Dante narrates that “Weeping itself prevents weeping here, and the sorrow that finds a block over the eyes turn back within to increase the pain;” (Canto 33, lines 93-95). The phrase “weeping itself prevents weeping here” refers to the notion that if a person weeps, their tears freeze over their eyes and face preventing them from weeping more. It’s ironic that is a mechanism that reduces the human’s pain causes more pain to the human. The personification of weeping shows its dual nature of being a relief and punishment to the humans just like the sinners had the capacity to be benevolent and harmful and they chose to be harmful to their relations. Dante describes the act of crying as “for the first tears make a knot and, like crystal visors, fill all the cup below the brow.” (Canto 33, lines 96-99).  Dante uses a simile to describe the frozen tears as “crystal visors” that fill the “cup” or the “eye”. He uses the word “visor” which blocks the flow of tears from the inside and sunlight from penetrating the visor from outside. This reiterates that the sinners will never find comfort inside themselves or from their surroundings because their sin is so grave. Hence, they will be stuck in this stage of constant pain and turmoil where they lose all feelings that make them human except grief.

     Canto 33 focuses on the nature of weeping among the sinners. Dante alters the meaning of weeping for each soul. Count Ugolino wants to cry because he wants to express his grief for eating his own sons however, Alberigo wants to cry in order to obtain some for of autonomy over his own sins. Both want to express their grief for their fate however, neither can express it because crying is a humane characteristic that doesn’t fit their inhumane crimes.